More Comments on Stupid Art Projects and the People Who Do Them

Just about every article on the web on this subject is filled with comments from the general public.  In the previous post, I referenced some at the NY Times.  After that post, though, I went and read the comments on the Yale Daily News article, "Shvarts, Yale clash over project".  Interesting reading.  Here's the winner quote of the day, though:

So in an entirely unsurprising turn of events, the University has lied, betrayed one of its students in return for better press, and failed to defend free speech.

Aliza Shvartz, on the other hand, had the moral courage to tell the truth from the beginning, stick to her story when the going got bad, and know the difference between fiction, art, and honesty thoughout.

Apparently, Ms. Shvartz is an icon of integrity, one whose example should be taught and shared with others. Shoot, if I could only remember that verse of Scripture that pertains to such a statement... Oh well.

Update on Yesterday's Post

It is beginning to appear that the Yale art project referred to in yesterday's post is a hoax.  Because that makes it so much better.

From the Yale Office of Public Affairs:

Statement by Helaine S. Klasky — Yale University, Spokesperson
New Haven, Conn. — April 17, 2008
Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art. Her art project includes visual representations, a press release and other narrative materials. She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body.
She is an artist and has the right to express herself through performance art.
Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.

Even this is disturbing.  What, exactly, does "draw[ing] attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body" even mean?  Maybe that's why it's ambiguous, and that's why we need to bring it to discussion in this manner?  Is it really that ambiguous?

Yale has said that the piece is "a creative fiction."  In an H. G. Wells-like fashion?  This seems grossly inappropriate, even within the context of a "creative fiction."  For Ms. Shvarts has not operated with the realm of fiction, choosing instead to intentionally blur the lines between fact and fiction, between truth and falsehood.  And she continues to do so.  Her foolishness, apparently, knows no bounds.

We have built ourselves a culture that only responds to the shock factor. We have become numb and incapable of discussing "the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body" in a healthy, adult manner. Ms. Shvarts is merely a product of our times and our culture.  That does not absolve her of responsibility, but it should help us remember that we will only see more of the same in the future.

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool. Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools! Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool. Like a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by. As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

-Proverbs 26:1-12

What is, perhaps, more interesting is the ongoing conversation about this event and its coverage in the media.  Check out the comments in this NY Times article.  Repeatedly, the comment is made that this is actually boring and uninteresting.  Thus showeth the heartbeat of our culture.

When The Earth Moves

I experienced my first earthquake three years ago in Alaska.  You can read about that experience here.  It was pretty neat, in that never-been-through-this-before kind of way.  But it was also sort of expected, I mean, I lived in Alaska at the time.

So now I'm in St. Louis.  While there is a large faultline running through this area (and I remember in elementary school in Maryland the big deal made about it - an earthquake in St. Louis would level Maryland was something of how the story went), it's pretty inactive.  You just don't expect earthquakes pretty much anywhere east of the Rockies in this country.

So imagine my surprise when I wake up this morning, and everyone is talking about the big earthquake last night.  Turns out it was a 5.2 in southeastern Illinois and happened around 4:40 AM.  I slept through it.  That's my thing.  I sleep through earthquakes, hurricanes, sonic booms from landing space shuttles, my alarm clock...

There have been aftershocks from the earthquake, the most recent and strongest was a 4.5 at 10:15 this morning.  I was awake for that one, kind of felt like the ground rolled.

Earthquakes, particularly for those not used to them, are very unsettling.  You don't expect the ground to move.  That's why we call it "ground."  We talk about standing on solid ground.  We count on it being secure, solid... and not moving.  When it does move, it throws our sense of "rightness" off.

This is the second time in three months that this area has had its sense of "rightness" shaken.  Then, it was the shocking shooting of people during a suburban community's council meeting.  Then, our sense of security and safety at home was shaken.  It was disconcerting and confusing for many.

And then the earth moves under your feet.  That which is supposed to be stable and secure is suddenly as unsure as a boat on the ocean.  It is disconcerting and confusing for many.  What is one to do?

These events in our lives, and there are many more that happen - from the mundane to the magnificent - provide us opportunity to evaluate where we truly place our hopes, our security, our future.  We have a chance to question what the bedrock foundations truly are in our lives, what is the "solid ground" upon which we set our lives?  That in which we had considered our foundation, our "solid ground" has been shaken - quite literally - where do we turn now?

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

- Matthew 7:24-27

Horrendous Destruction of Life

My dad likes to send me stuff throughout the day to keep me from working.  He knows I am way too focused on my work and need to take a break every now and then, so he helps me procrastinate.  Thanks, Dad!

The email he sent today, though, isn't a fun one.  It's a link to an article about an art student at Yale who inseminated herself (read: got herself pregnant repeatedly) with the specific intent of destroying those lives for the sake of an art project.  She would induce a miscarriage every time, and video tape it.  She saved the blood as well.  Both of which will be used in the display of the project.

There is much to comment on about this, but this student made a particular comment that stands out to me:

Shvarts emphasized that she is not ashamed of her exhibition, and she has become increasingly comfortable discussing her miscarriage experiences with her peers.

That is what sin does to us.  If you read through the second half of Romans 1, Paul tells us that we all have a root problem, Sin.  That root problem is that we have rejected what we know to be true: 

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Go ahead and replace "they" with "we," for this is a problem we all have.  The rest of the chapter outlines the sins that have flowed out of that root problem of Sin.  It outlines what, in many respects, is a progression of sinfulness, that is ever-increasing in it's severity (note, interestingly, that sexual sins are the middle and disobeying your parents is as the end.  Hmm).  What's really key is the last verse of the chapter:

Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

See, every time we sin - no matter how big or how small - I think a piece of our soul is chipped off.  The Bible refers to it as the hardening of our hearts.  The bigger the sin (and yes, there are "big" and "little" sins, although they all have the same ultimate penalty - death), the bigger the piece of your soul.  Ultimately, we become so hardened that our natural sense of right and wrong is obliterated, and we not only continue to do wrong, but we rejoice, celebrate and encourage others to do the same.

I am passionately pro-life.  I can't imagine what killing your own child must do to your soul.  It is this aspect of the abortion debate that I think is overlooked too often, and we don't want to think about it.  Oh, by the way, I think it chips away at the father's soul, not just the mother's.  

So, what potentially eternal damage has this student done to her soul?  That is what, after the lives destroyed for such a pitiful excuse, bothers me most about this story.  And what is her life going to be like from here?

You know, it's become popular to portray abortion as a "necessary evil" these days.  Here's the problem:  The more you engage in a "necessary evil," the more necessary it becomes and the less evil.  I would need to check my history books, but I'm pretty sure the Holocaust was initially portrayed as a 'necessary evil' in Germany, but it certainly didn't take long to lose it's perception as being evil.

This is simply the natural consequences of a pro-"choice" stance on abortion.  It is the end of the slippery slope.

She destroyed countless lives for the sake of her artwork, not realizing that she was decimating the most beautiful art that could ever be created.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
- Psalm 139:13-16